


Just Like The Story

by thisiswherethefishlives



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: 300 prompts, Dorks, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Online Gaming, Prompt Fill, Season 1 Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-23
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2018-03-08 16:59:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3216656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisiswherethefishlives/pseuds/thisiswherethefishlives
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Years from now, this might be the kind of story that they tell their grandchildren. The kind of story that everyone listens to, nodding along while smiling. An over-the-top, fanciful story that no one believes because it just doesn’t happen in real life. Years from now, they may tell the story of how they fell in love and how they subsequently met afterwards, hands entwined as they sit together, insisting the entire time that it happened just like the story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Like The Story

**Author's Note:**

> Long story short, I got distracted while working on filling prompts, and I ficed instead... this is part of the 300 Prompt project that I'm working on. :)

Years from now, this might be the kind of story that they tell their grandchildren. The kind of story that everyone listens to, nodding along while smiling. An over-the-top, fanciful story that no one believes because it  _just doesn’t happen in real life_. Years from now, they may tell the story of how they fell in love and how they subsequently met afterwards, hands entwined as they sit together, insisting the entire time that it happened just like the story.

It all started with online gaming. Rox Bloodforge was a beast of a warrior, his hulking build accented with scars decorating his pixilated skin like freckles. He could fell a bear just by looking at it the right way. He was a living legend, and the partner in crime to one Jon Turbo, master mage for hire and professional vagabond. Together they roamed the pixilated countryside - foraging, fighting, and cracking jokes all along the way.

They had started playing together after a truly dismal attempt at dungeon crawling that left them both dead and cursing loudly, IN CAPS, on the map messenger until giving up and warping to the closest rez point. From that point forward, they would meet up each night to clear the map, getting to know each other first through messaging and then through Ventrilo. They discussed school, their families, and their awkward sexual awakenings. They talked about everything for years, growing up together as they began branching out to other games - always with the same handles - and their relationship grew along with them. What started out as a casual friendship became the most important relationship in Fitz’s life, and somehow without planning it he was in love with someone he had never met.

With the reality of the situation planted firmly in his head, Fitz tried to focus on people that could actually  _see_ , and when he realized that he could love Jemma Simmons he focused on her. Rox’s reaction to his new crush was to be supportive, and Fitz breathed the biggest sigh of relief that he hadn’t confessed his love to this person who clearly didn’t feel the same way. They were friends -  _best friends_  - and that was more important than whatever Fitz have been feeling.

Grant Ward took away so much more than anyone knew when he plunged Fitz into the ocean. With his hands unsteady, gaming just wasn’t an option anymore - and with his words stuck in his head, talking online didn’t make sense. Everything that he used to communicate with his best friend was broken, and he was alone, the fact highlighted by Jemma’s absence.

He knew, deep down, that he should do something. A simple email would be enough to update Rox, but he couldn’t bring himself to let the other man know. So Fitz stayed in the dark and tried to focus on the fact that it could be worse, even if the ache in his heart said otherwise.

* * *

Body thrumming with a low level of anxiety, Fitz drags his feet into the briefing room for the mandatory meet-and-greet that Coulson set up for the new recruits. Taking a seat, he allows his eyes to wander around the room, accidentally catching the gaze of the most gorgeous man he has ever seen - tall, muscled, and with a smile that would make the angels jealous… shooting a small wave in greeting, Fitz manages to draw his eyes away in what he hopes was a subtle way, focusing on literally everything else in the room instead. He knows already that he doesn’t stand a chance. He’s a small, pasty, nerdy Scot on his best days, but with his disabilities… he’s resigned himself to not having a shot until Rox’s voice draws him out of his funk.

Rox’s voice that is coming straight from the gorgeous guy he was eyeing just a moment before.

He feels hope, and fear, and loss all at once and he can’t find the words. He can’t find the words and it feels like the room is closing in on him because this is wrong.

“Hey, Fitz. Are you okay over there?” Coulson’s tone is soothing and patronizing all at once, and Fitz could absolutely scream if it weren’t for the words getting stuck in his throat. Instead, he takes a deep breath and focuses enough to reply - there’s not another option, now that everyone is scrutinizing him.

“Yes, Sir. I-I… um. I ap- I app… I’m sorry. I’m fine.”

Coulson shoots him a sad smile before moving on to the next bullet on the agenda. He has everyone’s attention. Everyone’s attention aside from Fitz and Rox. The other man is staring down at him like Fitz is a particularly difficult puzzle that he needs to solve and it leaves Fitz’s skin crawling.

The second that the meeting is dispersed Fitz is out of his seat and dodging out of the room like there’s a fire in the room and he’s been doused in gasoline. He doesn’t stop until he’s in the safety of the Lab, but he should have known better because he only gets an hour of peace before there’s a tentative knock at the door. For the second time, Rox’s voice is coming out of a stranger, and Fitz just did not get enough sleep last night to be equipped to deal with this turn of events.

“I don’t know if you caught it, but my name is Alphonso Mackenzie. Most of my friends call me Mack, but I have a feeling that you might know me better as Rox Bloodforge.” Rox… or Mack, rather… he is so gorgeous, and so confident that it’s almost offensive because they were never supposed to meet and now he’ll only see how ruined Fitz has become. He must see the panic on Fitz’s face, because the confident swagger that he had when he walked into the lab has been replaced with a pained, awkward smile and suddenly he takes up half the space he did just a moment before.

“I didn’t think we would e- ever… um.” Just like that, he’s blanked on what he was going to say, and he can feel the pressure to communicate squeeze him like a vise.

“You didn’t think we would ever meet?” The look of utter fondness on Mack’s face is disarming, and Fitz finds himself nodding with a smile of his own. “Yeah, I didn’t think so either. I mean, Turbo, you just stopped responding… and I started thinking that maybe I had messed up somewhere and you were avoiding me. Next thing you know, I’m accepting a job and I’ve given up on hearing from you only to have your voice pop up where I least expect it… I mean, you’re a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent?! This is nuts, right? What are the chances?”

There’s a giggle rising in his throat, and Fitz can’t stop it in time, and now Mack’s looking at him strange because he can’t laughing.

“I’m sorry, it’s just so… so s- it’s weird.” Taking a moment to breathe, Fitz works through what Mack had said, and the guilt hits him like a hammer. “It wasn’t you. You didn’t do anything… you’re perfect, but there was an accident - or, not an accident. There was a-,” he can’t find the word for Ward’s betrayal and his desperate hand gestures aren’t helping Mack decipher his meaning. “I was hurt on a mission, and I can’t… I- I don’t have… I can’t talk like I c-could before. I thought it would be easier to just stop… I didn’t want you worrying.”

“That’s bullshit, Turbo. You’re the most important person in my damn life. You thought I didn’t need to know that you had been hurt? Jesus Christ, you don’t get to decide what I’m allowed to worry about, not when it comes to you.” The raw anger in Mack’s voice has him cringing back until his back presses to the wall and there’s nowhere else to go. He imagines that he looks something like a trapped animal because Mack absolutely deflates seeing him there pinned to the wall. “We have talked nearly every day for over ten years. I’ve been in love with you for at least half of that. Did you really think I wouldn’t worry if you just walked off the face of the Earth without a warning? I mean, shit! I want to be angry at you, but I can’t because you’re here… you’re actually  _here_.”

It’s a lot to process.

“W-wait. You love me? I… but you were so… so… you said that I should m-make a move on Jemma!”

The look that Mack shoots him is simultaneously frustrated and disappointed.  

“Of course I told you to make a move! It’s not like I could tell you to stay single for my sake, not when we had never even met in person before. That wouldn’t have been fair to you. I mean, I thought about it a lot, but I couldn’t do that to you and I wasn’t about to risk our friendship.”

“I love you too.” The words are out of his mouth like a flash, and it’s terrifying because the  _one_  time that he doesn’t have trouble with a phrase is the one time he didn’t mean for it to come out. “I don’t- I… I don’t have my words anymore… but I love you, and I was too scared to tell you. I couldn’t stand- I can’t… I can’t lose you.”

“So, instead of telling me you decided to focus on someone who was a little more available?”

Fitz nods, and it’s just a shake of the head but it feels like the weight of the world rests on the gesture. Mack laughs, but it’s humorless at best.

“And instead of telling you how I felt, I pushed you into someone else’s arms.”

It’s frightening, how good Mack is at making himself seem small. For such a large man, he can make himself take up less room than Fitz, and it’s not right. The mood of the room is tense and sad and quiet, and it’s too much. Sucking up his courage, Fitz steps forward and extends his hand.

“I don’t… I know that- um… I don’t believe that we’ve been formally in-introduced. My name is Leopold Fitz. I hate my name with a- a passion, so most people just call me Fitz. You know me as Jon Turbo, and I have loved you for longer than- than I… I could say. I would like to pursue you- um… but maybe we could get to know each other again first?”

It’s quiet again as Mack stares at him, but the hope blooming across his face makes such a difference. It’s a soft quiet, the kind of calm that is reminiscent of fleece blankets and afternoon tea, and Fitz just wants to wrap it around to two of them like a cocoon. Mack takes his hand gently, reverently, stroking lightly with his thumb. It feels like there should be fireworks and a marching band. It feels momentous. Mostly, it feels like a beginning as Mack brings his other hand up to carefully caress along Fitz’s lower lip, tracing it gently before chasing the tickle with his mouth. It’s a quick, feather light brush of lips against lips before Mack’s pulling back.

“Don’t get me wrong, Turbo… but I don’t think there’s a person alive that knows me better than you do, and I’m not about to lose any time pretending that we need to get to know each other now that we’re finally together.”

Mack’s thumb is tracing lightly over Fitz’s cheek - his palm cupping his chin and tilting his face up - the easier to look at, and the easier to kiss. He has good hands. Large, warm, steady hands, and Fitz feels safe for the first time in months. Closing his eyes, Fitz focuses on that feeling - safety - and he chases it, with his hands as he pulls Mack closer, and with his lips as he kisses Mack back with all the love that he has had pent up inside of him. He’s spent too long living in fear, allowing it to hold him back, and he’s not about to waste anymore time.

Years from now, this is the story that they tell their grandchildren. The story that everyone in the family listens to, nodding along while smiling. An over-the-top, fanciful story that no one believes because it  _just doesn’t happen in real life_. Years from now, they tell the story of how they fell in love and how they subsequently met afterwards, hands entwined as they sit together, insisting the entire time that it happened just like the story…  _because it did_.


End file.
